First
of all, I am delighted that those responsible for the sexual abuse of children
in Newcastle have been convicted. That those responsible for such vile acts will
now be behind bars is to be applauded.
It would
be inappropriate for me to comment upon sentencing before it takes place, so I
will merely say that the sentence should always be proportionate to the gravity
of the crime - and these are incredibly serious offences. Given the guidelines
followed by judges and the examples of recent sentencing, I have to say that I
have very little confidence in the system delivering true
justice.
Like many
people, I have concerns over the reported £10,300 payment made to a convicted
child rapist as an informant in this case. This sends out completely the wrong
message to the general public: crime should not pay. Nevertheless, I do wonder
whether all of these criminals would have been brought to justice without
it.
This is a
serious moral dilemma; sometimes in politics one of the hardest things to say is
'I don't know'. I sincerely hope that the claim - that vulnerable women and
children were saved from abuse as a direct result of this informant - stands up
to scrutiny.
I worry
that someone with such a criminal record was free in the first place to be able
to act as an informant, and I worry that there are dangers in this utilitarian
approach - just as I worry that so-called plea bargaining in America leads to
justice for most, not justice for all.
It is
reported that most of the attackers are 'Asian'. Ethnicity, nationality and
culture are irrelevant: justice must be colour-blind - sentencing depends on the
crime not upon who has committed it. There can be no excuses: the law is the
law.
If it
should turn out that any of those convicted is not a British citizen, then
naturally I believe (as I do with any foreign criminals) that they should be
deported.
This type
of crime devastates lives. It is appalling that such crimes have so often gone
unpunished thanks to a level of political correctness which has put cultural
sensitivities above the rule of law - indeed, above right and wrong. I've seen
on a personal level how this kind of attitude can impact on thinking amongst
those whose primary duty should be to ensure the safety and welfare of
children.
In our failure as a society to place the rights of victims above those of
criminals, sadly we all too often fail the victims. In this case, the
perpetrators have been brought to justice. The true tragedy is the number of
times that criminals get away with their
behaviour.
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